Batumi Picks Up the Baton

Another World Championship is under way: among women in rapid and blitz

The opening ceremony of the Women's World Rapid and Blitz Championship was held today in Sheraton Batumi. The ceremony started several hours after the World Champion was determined in Russia, the old-new Champion Viswanathan Anand beat Gelfand on a tie-break. Some of the participants couldn't follow the tie-break for the World crown as long as they were on their way to Batumi. The President of ACP Emil Sutovsky followed the fight and expressed his disappointment with the result.

Emil Sutpvsky and the President of the Georgian Chess Federation Gia Giorgadze gave a speech during the official part of the event. The draw was held by the head arbiter of the tournament Nana Alexandria.

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The first day of the Women's World Blitz Championship has finished today in Batumi, Georgia. The Russian player Valentina Gunina is an undoubted hero of it. After she had 3 points out of three rounds Gunina wondered "How lucky I am". Gunina continued "being lucky" throughout all the following rounds. Valentina outplayed Georgians Chiburdanidze, Khukhashvili, Georgian Spanish Matnadze, Ukrainians Muzychuk Mariya and Natalia Zhukova, Chinese Tan Zhongyi and Cori Deysi of Peru.

The games of Round 1 of the Women's World Rapid Championship are played now in Batumi, Georgia. There's another "record" fact: this is the first tournament which has gathered 5 World Champions: Nona Gaprindashvili, Maia Chiburdanidze, Zhu Chen, Antoaneta Stefanova and Alexandra Kosteniuk.

At the today's press conference in Batumi, the President of the Association of the Chess Professionals Emil Sutovsky announced that FIDE delegated its rights to the Association for the organisation of the Women's Rapid and Blitz World Championships next year.

Once Boris Gelfand has landed in the Ben Gurion Airport and stepped over the line separating the terminal with the baggage claim area, the supporters who came to the airport to meet their hero burst out into applause. A lot of them were holding banners with supportive writings. First to congratulate Boris were his children.

The first five rounds of the 1st stage of the Rapid Grand Prix among men and women have started in Tbilisi, Georgia. The 9-round Swiss event with the time control 15+10 is organized by the Georgian Chess Federation. There will be overall four stages of the Grand Prix.